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More than 10 die in Arab-Kurd clashes in north Iraq
By Daren Butler KIRKUK, Iraq, May 19 (Reuters) - More than 10 people have been killed in clashes between Arabs and Kurds in Kirkuk in the worst violence in Iraq's northern oil city since the war, a local police official said on Monday. As officials prepared for city council elections this week, Arabs and Kurds fought over the weekend in mainly Arab districts in the southern part of the city, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, senior officer Jwamma Kakey told Reuters. Most of the fatalities occurred on Saturday but there was further violence on Sunday. It was not clear what triggered the fighting but a senior U.S. military official said members of each community blamed the other for the fighting. "Both sides could be right. Some political language could be all you need as a catalyst," said Colonel William Mayville, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. "My sense is that there are external forces at work." Looting and violence among the city's mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens and Assyrians first erupted after troops loyal to Saddam fled the city nearly six weeks ago. Tension between majority Arabs and the Kurds has been partly driven by disputes over land or property seized under Saddam's "Arabisation" campaign in the region. Many Kurds demand the right to return to homes from which they were expelled under Saddam. The trigger for the latest violence was believed to be a combination of rows over resettlement and the pursuit of former Baath party members, according to U.S. military officials. They said hospital reports seen by them indicated at least nine people had been killed and around 40 injured in the fighting, which local witnesses said was ignited by arguments between in the city market and protests in some districts. Multi-ethnic delegations were sent to the troubled districts to appeal for calm and on Monday Kirkuk's streets were virtually empty, with shop shutters pulled down. "The situation has calmed down and we are tightening security," said Kakey, a senior member of the city's fledgling 500-strong police force. "We are holding joint patrols with U.S. forces to control the situation." CHANGE OF TACTICS Mayville said the U.S. military had changed its tactics in response to the most serious clashes since Iraqi forces fled the city on April 10. Snap checkpoints were being manned at the entrance to the city, he said, but declined to talk about other changes. U.S. forces tightened security around Kirkuk's town hall on Monday, setting up new fences topped with barbed wire around the building in a move planned before the weekend fighting. "In a week or two you may find there is a similar incident but I don't believe this is fertile ground for Baathist people to come back in and take this place over," Mayville said. Kirkuk is preparing for municipal elections this week, marking another step in U.S. efforts to establish local government in Iraq. A council was appointed in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, a fortnight ago. On Saturday some 300 community leaders are to choose a 30-member city council which will appoint a mayor and his deputies on Monday. "An interim government is a strategy to release stress until we get a more detailed government plan in place," Mayville said. Before the latest clashes, there had been signs of cooperation between Kurds and Arabs over disputed farmland. Under a negotiated settlement, harvests will be divided equally between the groups, with the state receiving 10 percent.
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